• It's one of four Western New York schools where more than 9 percent of seventh and eighth graders earned superior scores (Level 4) on last year's statewide English tests.

• It's one of five schools where at least half of seventh and eighth graders hit the superior level on statewide math tests. (Students typically score higher in math than in English on the state exams.)

• It's the only school to be a member of both of the previous groups.

Walh credits his faculty with maintaining this balance by pursuing excellence on all academic fronts.

"Our teachers hold our students to high standards, but they push themselves, too," he says. "They can be their own biggest critics sometimes."

Erie County dominates the middle school rankings, filling 22 of the top 25 slots.

The exceptions are three entries from Niagara County: No. 3 Stella Niagara, No. 8 St. Peter School of Lewiston-Porter and No. 12 Holy Ghost Lutheran School of Niagara-Wheatfield.

Business First has also generated separate rankings of all middle schools in math and English, based on a detailed analysis of 2009-2012 test data. Transit is No. 1 in math (and No. 3 in English), while St. Peter is the leader in English.

Subject awards are given to the top 10 percent of all middle schools in English and math. Eleven schools hold awards in both subjects this year, while another 20 schools have a single award apiece.

Among this year's double award winners is St. Benedict's School of Amherst, which shot up from 59th place a year ago to 14th in the current standings. That's the sharpest rise by any middle school in the region.

Principal Molly Halady attributes the upswing to her school's emphasis on the fundamentals.

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